House slashes funds for walking -- speak up now!

This is critical. The House has released a transportation bill that cutevery reference to walking and actually repeals the Safe Routes to School program.

Last year, nationally, pedestrian deaths increased while car deaths dropped. But this bill eliminates funding to make streets safer for everyone, and makes it optional for states to fix roads that are dangerous to walk on.

Please email Representative Pelosi -- ask her to urge her colleagues on the Transportation Committee to vote for the Petri amendment; this preserves funds that help keep everyone safe on the nation's streets.

An Open Letter to Mayor Lee from Walk SF

How Mayor Lee Can Make Smart Investments in Safer Streets in 2012

At Walk San Francisco’s member bash last month, Mayor Ed Lee celebrated making San Francisco the first big city in the state to help kids walk to school by creating 15-mph zones at 60 schools, out of 180 to come.

“We will, in our lifetimes, get to zero pedestrian deaths," declared the Mayor, calling for “experimenting out of the box with every possible idea to make streets safer.”

The mayor set a bold vision for San Francisco, and an “out of the box” approach may be just what we need to reach it. But to stand by his commitment, Mayor Lee must provide the leadership our city needs to make smart, immediate investments to improve pedestrian safety in 2012.

Now's your chance! We had to cancel this walk in November due to rain -- come out to explore Hayes Valley on Sunday February 12. Take a stroll through time, from stately Victorians, to the Central Freeway and its demolition, to the Market-Octavia Plan and today's revival. With guide Larry Cronander, check out landmark buildings, the Hayes Valley Farm, and much more -- and finish up at a local pub!

Hayes Valley Past, Present, and Future
Sunday, February 12
1:00 p.m. - 3 or 4:00
Meet at Koshland Park - corner of Hayes and Buchanan Streets
$10 for the general public, free for Walk SF membersRSVP here
Rain cancels; do leave your email address so we can let you know.

Make your own Green Connections, Wed Feb 15

Join Walk SF, Nature in the City, the Parks Alliance, and the Planning Department to launch Green Connections, an exciting new project to help people connect to the city’s green spaces and bring nature into the city. This will increase your access to parks, open space, and the waterfront by making city streets and paths safer and more pleasant to walk on, with ecological design for rainwater and habitat.Find out more here

Join us February 15 to define how and where you'd like to make Green Connections!

Support Walk SF on the (Climate) ride of your life!

Have you heard about the Climate Ride? If you've ever thought about doing a bike tour, this might be the one. If you ride, you can select Walk SF to receive funds you raise for climate-friendly solutions -- like policies that prioritize walking! Walk SF works hard to make San Francisco a national model of low-carbon transportation, and you can help.

And finally: Thank You.To all of you who came to Walk SF's December member event (see pictures) and/or made a special year-end donation, thank you. You helped Walk SF meet the year-end matching challenge with flying colors! That means we're starting 2012 in a strong position to make change. Thanks to you.

Not a member yet? Time to renew? Join or renew online now -- it's a quick easy step to support the only organization that speaks up for you when you walk.

Thanks for being part of the growing movement for safe, sustainable transportation,